Soon after the COVID-19 pandemic reached Canada, the Schulich School of Business in Toronto built a new service called DMS Shop HERE to provide small and medium-sized businesses with aid in establishing an omnichannel presence, which can include online stores, payment channels for e-commerce and stores on several digital-marketing platforms. Omnichannel is most effective when it offers a seamless approach that connects elements of online and offline. While most large retailers, financial service firms and healthcare companies had already recognized the importance of an omnichannel presence, what has become apparent to other areas and sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic is that offering omnichannel communications, products and services is necessary if those businesses want to attract and maintain user engagement.
Almost a decade ago, Inferential Focus suggested that Simplicity, Connectivity and Experience were the top three rungs of what we called the Consumer Value Hierarchy (with Restraint being the initial rung). Initial omnichannel offerings were often designed to satisfy the Simplicity value. Now, in the midst of shelter in-place orders and social distancing needs, people have been unable to interact with friends, family or colleagues. Nor have they been able to pursue the experiences that they have so highly valued. At the sametime, companies, organizations and artists have been unable to connect with or sell to their customers or constituents in the usual manner, leading them to create and offer omnichannel Connectivity and Experiences. In doing so, these entities are also aligning with the digitally trained consumers’ expectation for access to information, products, services and entertainment – when, where and how they want them. While some of the omnichannel experiments will end along with the pandemic, many others will prove to be popular, profitable, and part of the new way of operating.